Hemlock Society founder to speak in Sarasota

Dr. Faye Girsh, president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies (an international alliance of 52 member organizations from 27 countries), founder and president of the Hemlock Society of San Diego, and former president of the Hemlock Society USA. She is a senior advisor and an exit guide for the Final Exit Network.

Published: Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 10:21 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 10:21 a.m.

Psychologist Faye Girsh, a founder of the original Hemlock Society and pioneer in the right-to-die movement, will present a free lecture Saturday in Sarasota on the legal choices available to an individual facing the end of life.

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Faye Girsh will speak on “Dying in the Age of Choice” at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Selby Library, 1331 1st St., in downtown Sarasota. The talk is sponsored by the Final Exit Network of Florida, and the public is welcome.

"It's not a secret," she said by phone from her home in San Diego. "There are numerous videos, DVDs, and information on YouTube on the methods you can use to end your life. And yet most people don't know what their choices are. So they give up and resign themselves to having the kind of death they see around them — the choices their doctors suggest to them."

While almost all older Americans say they would prefer to die peacefully at home, only about one-third of them do. The rest end their lives in hospitals or long-term care facilities, many in intensive-care units — "hooked up to a machine," as the saying goes. Advance directives can help individuals and their family members refuse such medical treatment, but only one-third of American adults have put their wishes in writing.

Girsh, president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies and a senior adviser and "exit guide" for the Final Exit Network, became involved in the right-to-die issue in 1983, after working with a quadriplegic woman who wanted to die. With others in the Hemlock Society, she helped found Final Exit in 2004, as an all-volunteer organization that offers guidance and information about end-of-life choices.

Q: What is the philosophy behind the Final Exit Network?

A: We don't think people should have to die violently or die alone. And we don't think people should have uncertain deaths, where they're not sure of the outcome.

Q: With physician-assisted death now legal in three states (Washington, Oregon and Vermont), do you think Americans are becoming more informed on this issue?

A: I don't think most of us have a clue about what death entails. Everybody dies, and nobody wants to talk about it. It's not something people, our churches, our medical system want to talk about.

We don't see people dying, except by machine guns and car chases. We don't even see how people die with hospice care — it's not a panacea and cannot treat all pain, certainly not existential pain.

Q: What do you mean by existential pain?

A: It can be the pain of not being able to read or speak, or the pain of having people take you everywhere or change your diaper. And you know there won't be any solution to help you get better.

These days, of course, there are more and more treatments available for more and more things. Things you would have died from five or 10 years ago are all treatable. Some of that is very good; some is absolutely futile care for someone who no longer has the prospect for any kind of life.

<p>Psychologist Faye Girsh, a founder of the original Hemlock Society and pioneer in the right-to-die movement, will present a free lecture Saturday in Sarasota on the legal choices available to an individual facing the end of life. </p><p>"It's not a secret," she said by phone from her home in San Diego. "There are numerous videos, DVDs, and information on YouTube on the methods you can use to end your life. And yet most people don't know what their choices are. So they give up and resign themselves to having the kind of death they see around them — the choices their doctors suggest to them."</p><p>While almost all older Americans say they would prefer to die peacefully at home, only about one-third of them do. The rest end their lives in hospitals or long-term care facilities, many in intensive-care units — "hooked up to a machine," as the saying goes. Advance directives can help individuals and their family members refuse such medical treatment, but only one-third of American adults have put their wishes in writing.</p><p>Girsh, president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies and a senior adviser and "exit guide" for the Final Exit Network, became involved in the right-to-die issue in 1983, after working with a quadriplegic woman who wanted to die. With others in the Hemlock Society, she helped found Final Exit in 2004, as an all-volunteer organization that offers guidance and information about end-of-life choices.</p><p><b>Q: </b><i>What is the philosophy behind the Final Exit Network?</i></p><p><b>A: </b>We don't think people should have to die violently or die alone. And we don't think people should have uncertain deaths, where they're not sure of the outcome. </p><p><b>Q:</b> <i> With physician-assisted death now legal in three states (Washington, Oregon and Vermont), do you think Americans are becoming more informed on this issue?</i></p><p><b>A: </b>I don't think most of us have a clue about what death entails. Everybody dies, and nobody wants to talk about it. It's not something people, our churches, our medical system want to talk about.</p><p>We don't see people dying, except by machine guns and car chases. We don't even see how people die with hospice care — it's not a panacea and cannot treat all pain, certainly not existential pain.</p><p><b>Q: </b><i>What do you mean by existential pain?</i></p><p><b>A: </b>It can be the pain of not being able to read or speak, or the pain of having people take you everywhere or change your diaper. And you know there won't be any solution to help you get better.</p><p>These days, of course, there are more and more treatments available for more and more things. Things you would have died from five or 10 years ago are all treatable. Some of that is very good; some is absolutely futile care for someone who no longer has the prospect for any kind of life.</p>